UNEASE AROUND CHINESE FIRMS
The current unease has lately centred on Chinese firms that have a large footprint across Europe’s ports.
Companies such as COSCO and China Merchants control stakes in over 30 of the continent’s biggest terminals. Such investments intensified over a decade ago, driven in part by a European port sector heavily in debt.
Last year, EU-China trade stood roughly at US$970 billion, or about a third of the world’s gross domestic product.
However, concerns over China’s alignment with Russia amidst the ongoing war with Ukraine has reportedly led to growing anxiety over potential conflicts of interest, according to a recent report by Polish think tank Centre for Eastern Studies.
“We see that strategic interests are drifting apart,” noted Konrad Poplawski, the think tank’s coordinator for connectivity and regional integration.
“Therefore, having an actor or even private entities in a strategic infrastructure under the influence of such a partner – it’s not so sustainable as before.”
One notable example is the port of Antwerp-Bruges – the second largest in Europe – which has attracted significant Chinese investment through the Belt and Road Initiative.
